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World offers help to quake-hit: Reuters

Annan expressed sadness on Friday over the loss of life.

The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs despatched a five-member disaster assessment and co-ordination team to India. The team is due to arrive in India on Sunday.

Annan took note of the Indian Government rescue efforts under way and said the United Nations "stands ready to support these efforts in any way that the government deems appropriate," UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said.

Annan also offered his condolences to families of victims and to the two governments, Eckhard said.

Pakistan military ruler General Pervez Musharraf, setting aside differences with nuclear rival India over the disputed state of Kashmir, sent a message of sympathy to Vajpayee.

"I have been saddened at the tragic loss of life and property in the earthquake which hit large parts of India," he said. "The government and people of Pakistan share the grief of the bereaved families."

In Washington, President George W Bush offered help in rescue operations and sent condolences to the people of western India and those affected in Pakistan.

The Canadian Government announced it will donate one million Canadian dollars (US$66,000) to help victims of the earthquake that rocked India and Pakistan.

"I was stunned to see the scale of the destruction and deeply moved by the obvious grief and suffering of those who have lost friends and loved ones," Canada's Prime Minister Jean Chretien said in a statement.

The quake knocked over buildings, burying hundreds, in India. It did far less damage across the border in the southern Pakistani province of Sindh, where at least eight people died and many more were injured.

It was the world's second major quake of the year. On January 13, a quake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale killed at least 700 people in El Salvador and left 10 percent of its population homeless. A quake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale killed more than 2,400 people in Taiwan in 1999.

The last time Gujarat, prone to tremors of up to seven on the Richter scale, suffered a quake of such magnitude was in 1819.

India's last major earthquake struck in March 1999, killing 100 people and injuring 300 in the country's Himalayan foothills. It measured 6.8 on the Richter scale.

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EXTERNAL LINKS
The RD Killer Quake of Jan 26, 2001: Technical details
All about earthquakes in India and their impact
India Meteorological Department's earthquake reports
Disaster relief set-up in India
Major earthquakes across the world in recent times
A post-quake volunteer's unusual tryst with the departed
Earthquake News: Web site offering comprehensive news, information and features
Earthquake site map

Complete coverage of the earthquake

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